Immigration legislative and administrative policies, legal statutes and court decisions, and regulations collectively shape nations' immigration systems—from visa allotments and immigrant-selection mechanisms to immigrant integration programs, border controls, and more. As international migration has increased in size and spread and as a number of nations are more flexibly adjusting their immigration systems, the research offered here examines the many permutations of immigration policy and law, often with a comparative lens.

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The small window for enactment of a major U.S. immigration overhaul during 2014 seems to have closed. A trial balloon testing House Republicans’ willingness to proceed this year was quickly floated and dropped. Amid a focus on politics and timing, less noted was the reality that for the first time, House Republican leaders have affirmed support for a policy that would move the party closer to compromise over the most vexing question holding up immigration reform: what to do with the nation’s unauthorized immigrants.

About 757,000 immigrants took U.S. citizenship in 2012, a 9 percent increase from the year before. As of 2012, 46 percent of the nation’s 40.8 million immigrants were naturalized Americans. This article examines the latest naturalization data available for the United States, including historical trends, data by country of origin and state of residence, as well as socioeconomic characteristics of the 18.7 million naturalized U.S. citizens residing in the United States in 2012.

The United Arab Emirates has the fifth-largest international migrant stock in the world, with 7.8 million migrants out of a total population of 9.2 million. Heavily reliant on foreign labor to sustain economic growth, the UAE government in 1971 introduced a temporary guest worker program. This article examines the economic, social, and political challenges and implications of the program for the government, Emirati nationals, and migrant workers in the UAE.

This article dissects the current patchwork of overlapping and potentially conflicting authorities for immigration enforcement and policymaking in the United States, based on unique, country-wide surveys and city case studies.

With the prospects for immigration reform greater than they have been in more than a decade and the U.S. economy slowly shrugging off the effects of the recession, the United States may be on the cusp of historic changes that make the immigration system a more effective tool for innovation, economic growth and the competitiveness of its firms—large and small.

This discussion covers some of the most difficult issues that must be addressed if the United States is to reform its immigration system in ways that work not only for today’s reality but tomorrow’s future.

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In this panel discussion, Morten Kjaerum, Director of the European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights (FRA), discussed the state of rights protection in Europe as well as his agency’s role in this evolving arena, and speakers discussed shared challenges and opportunities on both sides of the Atlantic.

During this online chat, MPI researchers discuss their findings in an MPI brief, Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals at the One-Year Mark: A Profile of Currently Eligible Youth and Applicants, that provides the most up-to-date estimates of the current and prospective DACA population by educational attainment, English proficiency, state of residence, country of origin, age, gender, labor force participation, poverty, and parental status.

MPI experts participate in a video chat shortly after the Migration Policy Institute released an analysis comparing the major provisions of the Senate bill to those of the individual House bills considered to date in House committees.

At this release event in Washington, DC, co-sponsored by MPI, the Chicago Council on Global Affairs, and ImmigrationWorks USA, the Chicago Council's independent task force on immigration released its report, U.S. Economic Competitiveness at Risk: A Midwest Call to Action on Immigration Reform.

A panel discussion on the release of the Regional Migration Study Group's final report, Thinking Regionally to Compete Globally: Leveraging Migration & Human Capital in the U.S., Mexico, and Central America, outlining its findings and offering recommendations to policymakers in the region.

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Recent Activity

Over the past decade, the number of countries with immigrant investor programs has increased dramatically, with half of European Union Member States and several Caribbean nations now using these programs to attract investment. This report examines the increasing mix of players and types of immigrant investor programs, their policy design with regards to cost and residency requirements, benefits, and other considerations.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection Commissioner R. Gil Kerlikowske, who assumed his duties in 2014, lays out his vision and discusses his priorities for the agency as part of MPI's Leadership Visions series. During his remarks, Commissioner Kerlikowske discussed the surge in child migrants, border security, internal investigations, the possible threat posed by ISIL fighters returning to the West, and more.

A discussion and report release on the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, how its educational requirements may be impacting application rates, and recommendations for overcoming the education-success challenges that key subgroups of DACA-DREAM youth face.

A port city connecting the Netherlands with major trading partners, Rotterdam is, and has long been, home to migrants from around the globe. But the recent rise in temporary forms of migration presents new challenges for Rotterdam’s integration policy.

The Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program is unprecedented in the scope of its educational requirements. This report provides sociodemographic snapshots of three key DACA groups, explores the challenges to their educational success, and offers recommendations for educators and other stakeholders looking to support the educational attainment of these young unauthorized immigrants.

In April 2014, MPI's Transatlantic Council on Migration convened an extraordinary meeting with city-level officials from Rotterdam to discuss the potential that "urban citizenship" offers for building new identities at the local level. This Council Statement focuses on the identity crisis that many cities are facing and offers strategies to unite cities, expand services for diverse groups, and foster community cohesion.

County- and state-level data examining the populations potentially eligible for the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program show an interesting level of ethnic and enrollment diversity that is obscured when examining national-level findings. This commentary examines a few of the findings learned from the new MPI profiles of DACA populations in 36 counties, which are accessible via an online data tool.

In the Spotlight

MPI has compiled in one easy-to-access location its key research and data resources on issues, policies, enforcement programs, and more that relate to the immigration reform debate underway in Washington.

As many as 5.2 million unauthorized immigrants could gain relief under new and expanded deferred action programs that President Obama unveiled in November 2014. Check out our U.S. and state breakdowns of the populations that could benefit from the existing Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program or new deferred action program for certain parents of U.S. citizens or legal permanent residents.